Uttarakhand girl with no hands achieves miracle feat

Watching 27-year-old Anjana Malik deftly draw a painting of Ganesha while wielding a pen with her toes, eyes screwed up in concentration, is a mesmerising sight.

| TNN | Updated: Mar 10, 2017, 08:30 IST

Anjana Malik (L) with Stephanie Joyce, an artist and yoga teacher from US, who helped her in her artistic pursuits.

RISHIKESH: Watching 27-year-old Anjana Malik deftly draw a painting of Ganesha while wielding a pen with her toes, eyes screwed up in concentration, is a mesmerising sight. Till a few years ago, the daughter of a contractual labourer who was born with no hands and a deformed back and legs was forced to beg on the streets of Rishikesh. However, a chance encounter with Stephanie Joyce, an artist and yoga teacher from Virginia, US, altered the course of her life.
Recalling the first time that she met Anjana while on a visit to Rishikesh last year, Joyce told TOI over email, "I saw her sitting in a corner of the road at Swarg Ashram with a pen held between her toes, trying to write something on a paper. In between, she would look at passersby and beg for some small change. I decided to take a closer look at what she was doing and was impressed at how deftly she could write 'Ram' with her feet."

The meticulousness of Anjana's writing led Joyce to wonder if the girl could also draw. "I showed her my sketchbook and she was keen to learn. So, the next day I brought her a set of watercolours. I was amazed at her natural artistic ability and sense of composition. Within a few weeks, she had blossomed into an artist," Joyce recalled.

A few months of perseverance and the girl could draw popular gods like Ganesha, and sketch birds like peacocks while wielding a pen with her toes. Slowly, her paintings started drawing attention with people walking up to her to see what she was doing and appreciating her work. Her vibrant artwork fetches anywhere between Rs 2,500 to Rs 25,000 apiece enabling her to financially support her parents and a disabled brother. Most of the buyers are foreign tourists.

As to how her life changed after meeting Joyce, Mallik says she is now able to live a life of dignity. "I love what I do now. It gives me a sense of purpose," she said.

Joyce, meanwhile, says that the learning has been mutual. "Through Anjana's smile and spirit, I have felt the true essence of India. In fact, I felt she was my teacher. She taught me about acceptance and faith."

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